''Portrait of William Linley'' is an oil on canvas portrait painting by the British

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English people, English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was a ...

, from 1788. It depicts

William Linley William Linley (1771–1835) was one of seven musical siblings born to Thomas Linley the elder and his wife Mary Johnson. Early life Born in Bath, Somerset, on 27 January 1771 Linley was the youngest child of Thomas Linley and Mary Johnson (172 ...

History and description

Lawrence was a young

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

-based society

portraitist A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

, just as his career was about to take off. The Linley Family of Bath were well-known musical performers, connected with the theatre. Lawrence was a friend of William Linley who was a year younger than him. The painting may have served as an audition for his bid for a royal commission.

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

reputedly joked that Linley needed a

haircut A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut, or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head but sometimes on the face or body. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although ...

. Nonetheless, Lawrence was soon afterwards commissioned to paint the King's wife

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her death in 1818. The Acts of Un ...

. That painting's success at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Summer Exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sc ...

led to Lawrence's establishment as a leading

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

. Today it is part of the collection at

Dulwich Art Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, south London. It opened to the public in 1817 and was designed by the Regency era, Regency architect Sir John Soane. His design was recognized for its innovative and influential method of il ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

. It was given as part of a bequest by the painting's subject along with other works featuring his family.Stourton p.232

References

Bibliography

* Holmes, Richard. ''Thomas Lawrence Portraits''. National Portrait Gallery, 2010. * Levey, Michael. ''Sir Thomas Lawrence''. Yale University Press, 2005. * Roberts, Jane. ''George III and Queen Charlotte: Patronage, Collecting and Court Taste''. Royal Collection, 2004. * Stourton, James. ''Great Smaller Museums of Europe''. Scala, 2003. 1788 paintings Paintings by Thomas Lawrence Paintings in the Dulwich Picture Gallery Portraits of men {{1780s-painting-stub